Can anyone tell me how and when they found out your child had autism?

Teressa - posted on 09/30/2010

My son is 16 and at a very young age we had a gut feeling that "something was off". We took him to doctor after doctor from about the age of 2. Every doctor kept telling me that eventually he would "get it" it would be like a light switch was flipped and he would just "get it". After years of frustration (because as a mother you know something is wrong) for both my son, me and the whole family and horrible stays at behavioral health care centers finally he has been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome along with Retts and Major Depressive Disorder and PTSD and Anxiety Disorder and ADHD. Trust you instincs if you feel there is something wrong you could be right. Find a doctor that will listen to you it is better to be safe than sorry. My son did not have early intervention and we are all paying for it dearly. In my sons case it was not just the Peds doctor that missed it but counslors, and many psych Dr. I kept asking for testing and the doctors kept telling me it was unnessary. Finally I found a wonderful ped psychologist and she met with us once took our history and said yes he needed further testing He was finally diganosed this year at almost 16 years of age. So please if you believe that something is not quite right push for the testing and dont stop until you feel that you are headed in the right direction. Read up on anything that you or the doctors think might be a issue. Good luck

Carolyn - posted on 09/28/2010

My son wasn't diagnosed until he was 3years but it took many specialist and assesments to get to that point. We began to notice changes around 16 months .

Lori - posted on 08/25/2010

My daughter is going to be 12 in September of 2010 & was diagnosed before the age of 6 months. My then Dr. (family practitioner whom I don't see anymore) discovered something off with her at the age of 3 months. After a referral to a neurologist & ct scab of her brain, she was diagnosed with PDD-NOS. All the milestones came later for her. She's somewhat of a loner but when in school, she will sometimes join groups of friends. She started PT, OT & speech right away. She didn't talk much when she was in preschool, but now, I can't get her to be quiet for even 5 minutes, lol. Good Luck.

Melissa - posted on 08/21/2010

My youngest (son) was put on the watch list at 2 years because he wasn't talking. He was officially diagnosed with classic autism when he turned 3. I took my middle child (daughter) in to see the specialist a few weeks ago (she'll be 8 next month). I'm still waiting on the official word, but we're thinking she'll be diagnosed with high functioning autism (HFA) or aspergers (AS).



Like the others said, there are always early signs, (before the age of 3) as that is part of the diagnostic criteria. Good luck to you; I hope you find some answers!

Christi - posted on 08/21/2010

most places wont test until they are 18 months. we just had our son tested two days ago and he is autistic, he is 20 months.

Jill - posted on 08/20/2010

The warning signs were there very early on for me. My son also had surgery early, but even before that I recall that there were differences between him and his siblings. As a small baby he wouldn't interact as babies do by smiling, cooing and gooing at strangers who looked at him in his pram. He was quite aloof and simply did not engage with strangers at all. He was a very quiet baby and did not fuss or cry a lot, and he settled really easily. All of this was nice, but at the back of my mind I remember thinking, he is almost too good. Go with your gut feel and get early intervention if its available. It certainly can't do any harm.

Sara - posted on 08/16/2010

Our Dr. was concerned at 1 yr when my twins had no speech, they started therapy at 15 months, but no asd diadnosis was given until 3. As for my youngest, we knew sooner, probally around 2 yrs.
I'm not sure where you're located but most states have some sort of Early Childhood Intervention program that works with children with developmental delays from 1 - 3 yrs of age at little or no cost to the parents. :)

Mia - posted on 12/04/2009

work with your doctors to rule everything out then seek a doctor who specializes in developmental delays i was blessed to find Dr.Childers@ the CARD CENTER in JACKSONVILLE FLORIDA

Carol - posted on 12/04/2009

I have had custody of my grandson for about 5 years. Before that I saw some abnormal behaviors, but couldn't do anything about it. After I got custody, I began taking him to all kinds of specialists. He wound up with a lot of different diagnosis - tourette's syndrome, OCD, ADHD, oppositional defiance and others that I can't even remember. He also had some hearing and speech problems that I believe made it more difficult to diagnosis him. I really felt like the specialists were all missing something important. Finally he started receiving occupational therapy. I'm not sure why or how - perhaps the school recommended it. The occupational therapist did all kinds of assessments and was the first to suggest that the appropriate diagnosis was Asperger's. All of the other diagnosis are actually symptoms of Asperger's. His pediatrician and counselor both agree. My instinct or gut tells me this is the correct diagnosis. Nicolas is getting more appropriate help and is, finally, making good progress.

Michelle - posted on 12/04/2009

My son was officially diagnosed when he was just under 3-years-old. After an unpleasant experience at Munro-Meyers Institute where I was told that he had some behavioral issues and I needed to learn better parenting techniques-- I sought another opinion. Turns out he has Asperger's, ADHD and a PDD diagnosis. He had limited language, no eye-contact, repetitive/obsessive behaviors, unable to make social connections to anyone but me, etc...

Autumn - posted on 12/04/2009

I started noticing oddities in my son's personality from the time he was born. I started looking into Autism when he was 10 months old. 10 months old was also someone outside of my immediately family mentioned Autism to me. I called Early Intervention when he was 17 months and still wasn't babbling/making eye contact and was having unbelievable tantrums. Told them on the phone I suspected he was autistic. They told me not to jump to conclusions. His evaluation was at 20 months old, at the end of this they told me they highly suspected he was autistic and he was diagnosed at 24 months + some days.

Cindy - posted on 11/30/2009

Hi, my son is seven now, and was diagnosed with high functioning autism last year in april, when he was five. I'm sure he was born with autism, because he was just always different from other kids.



My biggest worry was his speech delay. At three he could say a lot of words, but not in context. We took him to a speech therapist, who said, that he just doesn't want to talk, it will come. Deep down, I knew this wasn't the case, but I really wanted to believe her, and I 'convinced' myself that I was overreacting. Especially since I was a few weeks pregnant with my daughter then.



How I wish now, that I followed my gutt. Although I didn't suspect Autism before last year, I just knew something wasn't right.



Keep on nagging the doctors until you feel sattisfied with what they say. Like everybody on here said TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS. I alway say it's better to overreact, and nothing's wrong, than to not react, and there actually is a problem. I really wish I overreacted a little more, a lot earlier!

Kim - posted on 11/30/2009

I want to thank everyone for all of their comments ans support. I took him to the Nutritionist and the GI doctor this past Wed. and the GI doctor seems to think that he has some sort of feeding or behavioral disorder. He said to keep working with the feeding team because they can help with both of these issues. Both the Nutritionist and GI doctor gave me the number for the developmental pediatrician. They said it could be up to a 1 1/2 year wait. I called the number and they took info, said they would send me out some paperwork and it is about a 3-4 month wait. Does anyone know if it's usually a long wait for a developmental pediatrician?

Teresa - posted on 11/29/2009

My son is almost 4. When he was 2 I noticed that he wasn't like my oldest, he didn't talk or was even close to trying to get potty trained, he flapped his arms and he would cover his ears a lot. At a routine check with the pediatrician he schedules a variuous sets of test and he was diagnosed with autism. From then on he's been doing good he goes to special education clases where he gets speech therapy and he's being taught lots of things.

Michelle - posted on 11/29/2009

Hi. My 17 yr old has aspergers and dyspraxia caused by my epilipsy meds. Looking back now, knowing what I now know, we were spotting the signs very early on - as a baby he would not go to sleep in our arms, only in his cot and he was late to do things like rolling over and sitting up; as a toddler he could not stand still but would jump up and down on the spot while you were trying to get him dressed, and he would always use long descriptive words instead of normal children's language. We knew he was different in some way, but had never heard of aspergers or the like, so whilst his behaviours as a child were often seen as cute or eccentric it wasn't until he was around 10-11 that it became problematic and risky. It then took a deal of pushing to get a referral and then a further two years for a diagnosis (done via six monthly appts with a consultant paedatrician, in the second appt he tried to discharge Joe and I had to refuse to allow this and was made to feel like a paranoid mother). After diagnosis his school refused to help even when he was refusing to go - he would make himself sick with anxiety (I now believe that the materials and colours in the newly built school contributed to make him physically unable to go there). I have now, three years on and Joe having missed the last year of school and the first year of college, still yet to have managed to get someone to assess his needs - he was eventually seen by mental health services but still they just talk and do nothing. Only last week did they agree to see him again, and only because he is now extremely depressed, has lost stones in weight, often stays awake for 36 hours at a time, physically attacked his dad and is talking about suicide, as he feels like a failure and that there is nothing for him to live for. It breaks my heart to someone with so much intelligence (he can list famous names, birthdays, ages etc with no problem and practically lives on wikipaedia) reduced to this when he has so much potential. Rest assured, tomorrow's long awaited appointment will see me using any means necessary to get them to take notice.

So my advice is this - you know your child, and have the internet now to use as a tool and knowledge is power - do not let them dismiss your child - if Joe had a diagnosis and support from an early age I'm sure he would be in college now and preparing for university, instead of talking about ending it all - I am still hoping that there is still some chance for him to reach his potential. And I hope you don't live anywhere near me, cos you'll have a battle on your hands to access services that actually just don't exist....

Good luck x

Noreen - posted on 11/28/2009

I have been told that Aspergers is hard to detect until around age 11 my son was diagnosed at age 10, Thankfully, a teacher at school noticed similarities in behavier in my son and her grandson. He is very bright, but has many social problems dealing with peers, he prefers to spend time with younger childer or adults. He talks with big words and gets made fun of frequently, he does not "get" sarcasm, certain clothes bother him, loud noises, he focuses better if you count while he is doing school work or by tracing letters on his back while he works. He doesn't observe social nicities either Thank goodness he has a great organization helping him at school. A lot of kids with Aspergers are easily misdaignosed with ADD ADHD, we never thought he had that and stuck to out guns to find out how to help him. He continues to improve and is learning to help himself make better decisions, he is not locking himself in closets or having huge melt downs now. Unfortunate what works for some kids doesn't for others, and with my son too it is trail and error, and what works for a while will not always work, he continues to challenge us. Thanfully he a soft hearted child and clearly wants to please and he is very bright so academically he does very well. But he doesn't like to do things over and over again, he feels if he has shown that he can spell that word once he doesn't think he should have to continue to practice it over and over, he de-stresses himself using a "noodle box" now, filled with dried pasta and lilttle trinkets, he is asked to only find one thing. That was a huge thing for us at the time he was eating pencils.. the whole pencil metal eraser and all.

Carrie - posted on 11/28/2009

You need to be very persistent with your doctor if you feel that something is wrong. Early intervention is very important. My daughter wasn't diagnosed with PDD-NOS until she was in first grade. PDD-NOS is harder to diagose because these children have some but not all of the characteristics of Autism. She was a late talker. She started speech therapy when she was 21 mos. old and is still in speech and a special class for children with ASD. I would get a hearing test done first to rule that out. Most states have programs through the public school system that services birth through age 4. They should have a developmental specialist that can do an evaluation. Best of luck to you and your family.If you have any other questions feel free to e-mail me at kareber28@yahoo.com. Carrie Kelly

Angela - posted on 11/27/2009

Kim, thank you for starting this thread, it's been very interesting to read all the replies. I strongly second the sentiment to follow your gut and tell your doctors just what you said - they're missing something and you don't know what. I regularly took my newborn son (now 12) into the pediatrician on site due to my concerns and was told that I was overreacting and that it was a phase he would outgrow. It never felt like a phase, and finally at age 5 we had the diagnosis of autism. We knew he was different from a very young age, eating problems, not wanting to be held, so many little things. I gave up trying to get our doctors to help for a while and when he was walking on his toes, spinning, lining up, hand flapping and other stimming behaviors, I figured they would tell me it was another phase. However, these symptoms are when doctors are usually willing to sit up and listen to your mother's instinct. Whatever you do, don't give up like I did - everything turns out ok, but I encourage you to speak up every time you see your doctor - tell him if your gut says they're missing something, even if it takes a long time. I wish you patience and support on this journey, perservere and stay strong.

Amy - posted on 11/26/2009

my son was 3and a half when he was even though 4 diff docs all told me they thought he might have autism they did nothing we finally gotadoc that cared and sent him to a specialst who said he was and that he is high functing he is more social so many peole do not htik he has it he never babble as a baby or laughed he liked to just lay on the floor and watch what was going on around him

Mary - posted on 11/26/2009

The doctors beat around the bush about it Call a place called First Steps they can help or just request the doctors to test him it took 2 years for my sons doctor to do the testing. Which in fact he is autistic and they just slowed his devlopment

Terri - posted on 11/25/2009

My son has aspergers rather than autism but we started having him tested when he was 3 yrs old due to lack of verbal communication and other behaviors such as no eye contact and o.c.d. like behavior.

Tracy - posted on 11/25/2009

I started to think that something was wrong when my son wasnt talking at 2 and everyone said it will come. I found out last year that my son has very mild autism, But he also adhd so its been a hard adjustment with him having both. But he coming right along.

Alexandra - posted on 11/25/2009

Hi, we noticed Amelia (Millie) was different from the age of about 2 and a half, she is a happy but quiet child and every time we picked her up from nursery she was playing on her own. She was still not speaking at this age! She went through a phase, when she was much younger, of trying to talk and we encouraged her as I'm sure all parents would but then went very quite to not saying anything at all.

Millie did not display the "usual" tell tale signs but we decided to get it checked out. We went through the Meadow Centre in Solihull with the support of her school (she is in mainstream school) and she is now statemented and has 1:1 support at school. This process took over 12 months of assessments etc before Millie had the diagnosis of ASD. She is an extremely intelligent child, she is only 4 and reads over 500+ words (even though she doesn't really speak), she can count up to 100 from any point, she can recognise any number up to 100 and is a very visual child so much so that she may have a photographic memory. So basically what I would say is, you know your child, you know if there is something not right, and if you do think this get it checked out! Don't let anyone tell you any different, you might have to fight to get a diagnosis but it is worth knowing. If you need any other help, let me know and I'll try and steer you through, the other thing is to remember that you are not on your own! xx

Thomasine - posted on 11/25/2009

My daughter was around 20 months when i noticed something was wrong, she talked a little but she always called her sister name and counted in the mornings. As time went on she began doing things she was'nt suppose to be doing and no matter how many times outs she got, she just could not understand she was'nt suppose to do it. She would spin in circles on her toes, and scream to the top of her lungs, be very fascinated with certain objects, but the biggest thing for me she would not respond to her name. You could call her 20 times and she would not look. When i took her to her pediatrician he told me i was wrong and she had ADHD, I told him NO i want to see a specialist because i know it is Autism. He sent me to a neurologist and she was diagnosed with Autism and ADHD. If you truly believe in your heart of hearts that something is wrong don't let Drs. tell u otherwise request specialist. I wish you the best of luck. :)

Lara - posted on 11/25/2009

My daughter was 11 months old when she was diagnosed. First have his eyes and ears tested, then see a neuro. I've learned the early you find out the better the chances are for your child. My daughter is 29 months old now and people don't even know she is autistic. The only thing that is noticable is she does not speak yet. Best of Luck!

Stacey - posted on 11/24/2009

We are still waiting for a diagnosis for our son (6 months now), but when it was brought to our attention I did a lot of reading and have decided for myself that Im almost positive he has it. Other than his speech delay (he is 2 years and 8 months and still only has a couple of words which he does not use much. Aside from that, he lacks eye contact, he often has that dreamy or stoned look on his face, he has 'stimming' - flapping his arms while he jumps up and down and makes weird noises, he sometimes lines things up and will also get down at eye level to look at things such as toy cars, he will often not respond to his name no matter how many times you call him or how loud you yell it, but he will hear me open the back door from the other end of the house to go outside etc, he was not pointing at things until just recently and only recently started waving at people often, he has just started copying and imitating things he sees people do or things on tv, such as copying moves from wiggles dvds etc. He also has bowel movements which are always loose and has a rash on his face all the time. Other than that he seems like any normal kid and is very affectionate, interacts, and does not have many tantrums. Keep reading and educating yourself, its the single best thing you can do, but you should also talk to your Doctor and try to get referred to a Speech pathologist or Paediatrician now or atleast by 18months, because these appointments and processes can be very lengthy. Also read up on the GFCF diet, I started my son on it about 4 months ago and we have seen some improvement in him, read the information about it for yourself and make up your own mind, www.tacanow.org has some good info on Autism and gfcf diet. Good luck

Christine - posted on 11/24/2009

Hi Kim, always listen to your gut. I do not feel like you are overreacting. If you feel like something is missing then go get a second opinion from another family doctor. Early intervention is the key when it comes to Autism! In my case, I knew something was missing as my son was not reaching his developmental milestones at 12 months and then at 14 months. My son was not providing me eye contact, I was concerned about his speech and he was not walking (etcetra). My family doctor gave me a referral for my son to get his hearing checked, a speech pathologist and an occupational therapist. My son's hearing levels were normal however he needed a speech pathologist and occupational therapist. My son was eventually diagnosed early with Autism Spectrum Disorder and is high functioning. My son is now 5 years old and is doing well in school and socially and I believe it was because I did all the early intervention therapies. Do what you can to get the right therapies for your son and again always listen to your gut. Sincerely, Christine

Ashley - posted on 11/23/2009

With my son now almost 3 i didn't start to worry untill he was 18 months old and still not walking. He was not actually diagnosed until June of this year. Their are 3 big signs to watch for when it comes to autism. Severe delays in anything speech is a huge one my son is now only at the babbling stage. Not walking or attempting too. Another is spinning my son will spin anything that can be spun including himself it is a form of stimulation. Severe extremes will hit or bang their heads, rocking, doesn't cry when they hurt themselves. So on and so forth. Reverting is another my son did babble at all the right stages but stopped at 12 months. and up untill now wouldn't do anything.

Tasha - posted on 11/23/2009

my daughter is 7 years old and she was about 6 months old i started noticing changes she wouldnt sit up and she was really quite by the time she was 15 months old she had just started walking and when she wa 2 years old she started not talking and not learning anymore and he started having melt downs i took her several places and they couldnt help she wa to young so when she was 4 i found out she had autism and she has came along way and is still reaching for goals she does talk now and she is potty tranied she has high functing autism and she is a blessing.now they can test as early as 0 months for autism i went through the north carolina autism society your state should have one and she was refered to teeaach wich is a place for help and support and they do testing

Georgette - posted on 11/23/2009

Hello, Kim. From what I have learned throughout the years, there is late onset and early onset. Most autism is late onset, usually between 20-36 months. You will see signs such as inability to look at a person directly in the eye (photographs also will show this also); tiptoe walking; loss of speech or no progress in same; self-stimulation, such as flapping of hands; running and acute sensitivity in one or more of the senses (tactile and hearing seem prevelent). If you suspect that there is a problem now, INSIST that he get evaluated. Early intervention is key.
My oldest's autism did not show itself until around 26 months. We did an evaluation promptly and got him as much help as possible. My youngest's autism was expected (the % goes up with every male younger sibling) so he received intervention immediately. The difference between the two is astounding. One you can tell is autistic, the other nothing...
Best of luck to you.

Lisa - posted on 11/23/2009

Hi Kim, we started noticing signs early as well. The first was the eating. Don't ignore these signs you are seeing and don't let them tell you they will grow out of it. They won't. Go with your mom instincts. Start learning everything you can right now.

Jamie - posted on 11/23/2009

My son was "offiicially" diagnosed at 2 1/2 years of age HOWEVER, "autism" was apparent at his one year wellness check. My son has moderate autism. The signs began to show at about 10 months of age. He would not respond to his name and was very much in his own world. He babbled for only about a week and then stopped. His eyes were "spacey" and yes, he did gag on certain foods due to sensory integration disorder.

I do not know your full story or all of your child's symptoms but if it is primarily food issues, it could be a number of factors not related to autism. Sensory Integration Disorders are not only in autistic children and also my niece has apraxia (low muscle tone in her mouth area) and my son also has low muscle tone. Keep looking into it and follow your instincts. HUGS!

Leslie - posted on 11/23/2009

Hi there
My son Bodie is 5 1/2. He was formally diagnosed at age 2 yrs 10 months but we noticed he was not advancing verbally and starting to withdraw at around 18 months. He would also insist on holding small objects in his hand at all time-leggos, etc. He is a twin so we noticed the difference between his development and his twin brother's development. We didn't want to compare them since all children are different but the signs were too obvious. At his 2 year check up his pediatrician said to bring him back in 3 months to see if there was any change in his speech. When we took him back after the 3 months there was no change so at that point we started the long process of getting an autism diagnosis plus we started him in Early Steps which is here in Florida for kids with developmental issues. He started speech and occupational therapy at 2 years 4 months old. We also took him to a pediatric ENT, took him for an EEG and a MRI (the reason for the MRI is due to 1/3 of children with autism suffering from seizures so they were looking to see if he would be prone to them) and finally a pediatric neurologist. He observed our son, asked a lot of questions regarding his behavior and habits. The neurologist is the one who finally said he had autism. From that point he was enrolled in a school here in south Florida that specializes in children with autism. Within 3 weeks of his starting at that school he became a different child. He is now a total chatter box, making eye contact and interacting with other children.
Our son is on the mild/high functioning end of the autism spectrum however I also feel that the early diagnosis helped him. If you think something is wrong, talk to your doctor and find out who the best pediatric neurologist is in your area who deals with autism. The earlier you start the better...you are the only one who can speak for your child.

Good luck & God bless.

JENNIFER - posted on 11/23/2009

I have 3 boys w/ different levels of autism! Doctors are being careful not to jump to conclusions and over diagonise! You know your child the best! Don't let anybody tell you different! I started to notice about 1-1 1/2 yrs! My oldest son who has severe autism had difficulties besides autism! Docs typically try not and diagonise until the age 2 1/2 - 3 yrs old! I would write down when you think something is off and how long it was going on, That way you can see if there is some pattern to it + a very useful tool for the docs to look at! Once again you know your child the best and the earlier you start to figure out what his needs are the better! Peace be with you!

Sarah - posted on 11/23/2009

hiya, my son is 4 years old and was diagnosed just after his 3rd birthday. At the age of one i noticed my son wasn't babbling at all but knowing children develop at different rates i waited a few more months, at 18 months old he still wasn't babbling or attempting any speech so i called our health visitor who brought his 2 year check forward, she found his play skills, speech, imagination and social skills etc were severely delayed, he was sent for a hearing test which he passed the second time and he'd had glue ear. He also had a blood test to test for fragile x which was negative. He was observed at home, play group and at the children's center by a pediatrician, child develpoment adviser, speech therapist and health visitor for a year then we finally had his diagnosis. Like everyone else has mentioned, my son become attached to various objects, stared at things for a long time, his behaviour was and still is very repetitive, he spends hours lining things up and staring at his creations lol, he still has no clear speech but we are working on it and he is improving every day. I am lucky that my son is very affectionate as many children with ASD aren't. When he was being observed i was asked, regarding his eating, if he only ate soft foods so i guess this would be an Autistic trait, he wouldn't eat anything with lumps but he hasn't a problem with food now. There are many other signs but i've just mentioned a few that i obsereved with my son.....good luck and dont worry, it takes a special person to care for a special child. xx

Alice - posted on 11/22/2009

Hi Kim, I have a 13 year old grandson who was diagnosed about 4 years ago. We didn't notice anything when he was a baby. I believe the theory that some of the shots he took caused his aspergers. He doesn't like to make eye contact, doesn't like to be touched (hugged, kisses, etc) and he doesn't like loud noises or crowds. The earlier the detection the better off you'll be. Try to get your son to a psychologist who specializes in autism/aspergers to be checked. 14 months may be too young, ask your pediatrition. They say my grandson's aspergers is mild. Aspergers kids also don't have people skills. When I try to talk to him about school he just says he isn't much of a talker. He's a bright kid in school although he didn't like public school because of the abuse he took from the other kids. He goes to a local private school and just made the B honor roll. Good luck to you, just remember you're never alone. There are a lot of people out there like you and they're right her on circle of moms and ready to help you.

Jimma - posted on 11/22/2009

I'm Willy, Jimma's husband
One thing i remember is Jeff could look at christmas lights for hours .
Jimmas better at remembering than me but one thing I do remember is the need to interact. Jeff didn't like being hugged.when he was an toddler his younger brother would try to give him hug and jeff would push him away. This would upset Jason so I told him to give Jeff a hug from the front and if he pushes him away to give him a hug from the back. I explain that it's not that he doesn't want an hug it is just that the autism won't let him. It took an few years but in time he got his hug from the front.

Cindy - posted on 11/22/2009

My son is 8 years old almost 9 and when he was about 18 months we got his immunizations like we were supose to and he was behind on a few and the caught them all at once..Well by his second birthday he has lost all his speach. He quit responding to his name. Started having emotional attachments to toothbrushes. We first had his hearing checked because he had alot of ear infections and I have a brother that is deaf. We first had him evaluated through a program that was called Sooner Start, Then we had him evaluated by a develomental pediatrition. They both said Developmental delay and Sensory intigration disorder. Well after different thera[ies and being reevaluted he is now diagnosed with Moderate to Severe Autism. He sees a speach and Occupational therapist and he we do some Aba therapy. We have tried Biomedical stuff as well. Chelation and Supplements we have tried everything but therapy is the best. We are currently seeing a Chiropractor that has been doing a series of adjustments and are currently trying the Gf/cf diet. That seems to be helping he is atleast sleeping now. Good luck and I hope everything turns out well for you and your son! Early detection is the best the sooner you start with therapy the better!

Jimma - posted on 11/22/2009

my son just turned 28 and has severe autism. he was diagnosed at age 6 and he was born in the early 80s and there wasn't much known then. he lives in a group home now but how i wished he could have been helped earlier.

Renee - posted on 11/22/2009

My son is now 8 years old. But when he was around 2 years old we noticed that he was changing, stopped talking, stopped eating a wide variety of foods, started walking on his toes, flapping his hands near his ears and not making eye contact. Although all the symptoms came on slowly so by age 3 we knew something wasn't right but the doctor said he just had a speech delay. Then at 3 1/2 I insisted that he be tested for something anything to give us a clue now he wasn't talking at all so finally we got to see the developmental peditrician when he was 4 years old and was diagnosed that day with autism. Earlier is better since the earlier therapy can start the better chance for the most progress. My son is doing so well but I wish we'd gotten therapy sooner just for his sake. Good luck and it's better to get things ruled out than wait and see.